Just like any tool, the usefulness of Google is determined by the skill of the user. While library databases are ideal for research, it’s important for researchers to understand how to properly use those resources that they will have access to after leaving the University setting. This session will teach you tricks to enhance your Google skills, including Google Scholar, and skills that transfer to other search engines.

2. What are you going to show us?
Some cool Google tricks to find what you need
Different aspects of Google

3. Quick Answers from Google
Defining a word
define:term
Calculating
Remember PEMDAS
Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add, Subtract
Converting units
Number unit in converted unit

4. Google can even Answer Questions…
When is daylight savings time
What day of the week is Christmas
Who won the Super Bowl
What is the capital of Vermont

5. Did you know that Google can be
used to limit to…
• A particular site
• A particular type of file
• A time period
You can also exclude words and search for
related terms.

6. Site:
In Google, you can actually specify a particular
type of site to search.
Site:
For instance, you can search for government
information on any topic by using site:.gov.

7. Examples
Campaign site:.org
(we’ll come back to this search throughout)
Now you give me terms, and I’ll search…
.edu
.org
.gov

8. Specific site:
You can also use Google to search a specific
website…
Campaign site:pew.org
Search UNO site for tuition 2013
Now Google… tuition 2013 site:uno.edu

9. Filetype:
Sometimes, you remember an awesome file that
you ran across on a website…but you can’t
remember the name or what site it was on.
Google can help with the Filetype search…
Filetype:

10. Examples
african american history filetype:pdf
twitter filetype:ppt
citation filetype:pdf
government citation filetype:pdf
Unlike the site search, the filetype search does not
use a period between the colon and the file type.

11. Time Period ..
You can also limit a search using the time period
search.
..
I have to admit that this doesn’t always work the
way it should, so you can also limit the time
frame in the Advanced Search area.

12. Example
Bill Clinton presidential campaign 2007..2009
Better with the Search Tools…

13. Excluding -
And back to…
campaign site:.org
But we keep getting Wikipedia! I know…
Campaign -wiki site:.org

14. Related Terms ~
Search College budgets
See the difference when we search
~college budgets
You can also use the “related searches” section.

15. Using Search Tools to Limit Your
Results
And back to…
campaign site:.org
Limit by time
Limit by types of results
Limit by location

16. Advanced Search Screen
Demonstration

17. Advanced Searching of Images
Now you can search images with Google like
never before…
Limit to Size, Color, Type, or Time.
Let’s do a search for Privateers…

18. Other Google Searches
Videos
State of the Union
Books
Basic Business Library
Patents
Windmill

19. The Other Google
Google Scholar
Option to search articles
library mission statements
Or legal documents
world wildlife fund world wrestling federation

20. Other Google Sites
Translate
Finance
Offers
Drive
Reader

21. Even More…
Demonstration

22. Bing!
What works…?
Campaign site:.org
Campaign site:pew.org
Campaign -wiki site:.org
African american filetype:pdf

23. Bing!
What doesn’t…
Bill Clinton presidential campaign 2007..2009
~college budgets
Related searches section…

24. Bing!
What I like… What I don’t…
• Becoming more • Becoming more
Google-esque Google-esque
• Image and Video searches • Doesn’t bring up the same
content as other search
• Pretty picture engines
• No Advanced Search Option

25. Yahoo!
What works…
Campaign site:.org
Campaign site:pew.org
Campaign -wiki site:.org
African American history filetype:pdf

26. Yahoo!
What doesn’t work…
Bill Clinton presidential campaign 2007..2009
~college budgets
Related searches section…

27. Yahoo!
What I like… What I don’t…
• “All Search Services” option
• The Trending Now section
• Yahoo! Search Resources
• Yahoo! Advanced Web Search • Yahoo! Dating
• Yahoo! Finance
• Yahoo! Help
• Yahoo! Search Help

28. Google Search Education
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/searcheducation
Power Searching Courses
http://www.powersearchingwithgoogle.com/

29. Thank you!
Sonnet Ireland
Head of Federal Documents & Microforms
Earl K. Long Library, University of New Orleans
sebrown3@uno.edu
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sonnet
Shameless Self-Promotion
Gov Info 4 Schools
govinfo4schools.blogspot.com
Federal Documents @ Earl K. Long Library
feddocs.blogspot.com
Twitter: @feddocs and @sonnetireland